41 Education Policies and Practices for Basic and Primary Education Development in Nepal Bisna Acharya* Abstract Education policies are considered as the strategic link between the education's vision and day-to-day operations of education system of a nation. The comprehensive education policies allow to the decision makers and employees to understand their role and responsibilities within predefined limits. Education policies allow management to guide operations without constant management intervention. Education policies in Nepal have been considered as a predetermined course of action which is established to provide a guide toward accepted strategies and objectives. These policies identify the key activities and provide a general strategy to decision-makers on how to handle issues as they arise. Policies also help to eliminate the common misunderstandings by identifying job responsibilities and establishing boundaries for the job holders. The present study deals with the issues regarding Education Policy Practice focusing on development of basic and primary education in Nepal. Therefore, the major concern of the study is to examine the development of basic and primary education in Nepal. Keywords: primary education, educational policy, job holders, decision-makers, and descriptive statistics Introduction Basic and primary education is the base for an educational career for the children. Primary education is the child's first formally organized learning and the instrument for learning of fundamental skills, understandings, attitudes, and habits essential to the educated citizen.Primary education is the instruments for eradicate illiteracy which forms a bond of common understanding and effort that gives strength to the youngers. In the primary education, children develop rapidly in mental, moral, emotional, and physical attainments. Thus, primary education is assumed to be essential for social, political, religious, economic, and cultural development of a nation (NNEPC, 1956). Primary education comprises five years of schooling in Nepal. The existing five *Ms. Acharya has completed Master’s Degree in Education (M.Ed.) in 2008 and has been working as a faculty member of Curriculum and Evaluation in MahendraRatna Campus, Tahachal, Kathmandu since 2011. She has published 5 research articles in national journals. Now she is pursuing Ph.D. from Singhania University, India. Education Policies and Practice………… Acharya 42 years' primary education structure was the form of the structure of 1951 to 1971 AD. Primary education consisted of only three years of schooling during the period between 1971-1981 AD, when the National Education System Plan (NESP) was implemented in Nepal. NESP was based on its emphasis on literacy education alone at primary level and introducing pre-vocational subjects from Grade four onward (Bajracharya, Thapa&Chitrakar, 1998).As per the Ministry of Education report 2015, the minimum entry age for primary education level was 5 years. Earlier primary education or the first level of education comprising of five years of schooling has currently been extended to additional three upper grades to make 8 years (Grade 1-8) as basic education. The school sector reform plan (SSRP) has determined that basic education as a human right as provisioned in the law and stresses on mother tongue as the medium of instruction in early grades of primary education (MoE,2015). The Government of Nepal has launched the Basic and Primary Education Project (BEEP) in 1992, focusing on three aspects: (I) improvement in the quality of education, (ii) improvement in the access to basic and primary education, and (iii) strengthening of the administration and management of the sub-sector. In order to achieve these objectives, the project replicated a number of successful activities of the Seti Education for Rural Development Project (SERDP) and Primary Education Project (PEP). The Project serves as the government's major strategy for achieving the basic education goals for Nepal by the turn of the century (MoE, May 1997, p. 149). BPEP-II Program Implementation Plan (PIP) has proposed a legal provision for compulsory schooling with full enforcement within its program purview. The plan purposed three types of program activities for the CPE districts for the plan period: first, a trial piloting of preparation, evaluation, and approval of SIP in selected clusters; second, application of SIP approach to the structuring of the district primary education plan; and third, formulation of primary education development plans by aggregating and screening SIPs. Besides, BPEP II felt the need of piloting different modalities in SMC formation in the CPE districts (MFA, 2004, pp. 91-92). Review of Literature Basic and primary education has to ensure that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances, and those belonging to disadvantaged castes and ethnic minority groups, have universal access to and participation in a completely free and compulsory primary/basic education of good quality. The term 'all children' signifies all children within 5-9 years for primary and 5 to 12 years for basic education irrespective of their gender, caste, ethnicity, or other circumstances. Nepal employed a number of strategies for universal primary and basic education. Policies, plans, programs, and projects are always in hierarchical order and aligned with Molung Educational Frontier 43 development activities. Hence a policy, as a set of decisions, is oriented towards a long- term purpose or a particular problem. In this regards policies have two basic functions. The reactive functions are as immediate response to an emergency, while proactive functions are pursued for reform and enhancing social well-being (Torjman, 2005).Inthe same manner, policies can be explicit or implicit, single decision or group of decisions which may set out directives for guiding future decisions, initiate or retard action, or guide implementation of previous decisions (Sapru, 2000). Dhungana (2010) had conducted case study on Urban Poor Education: Policy and Practices in Nepal. The study was qualitative inquiry based upon the review of government policy papers, action plan, budgeting, statements, and commitments. The desk reviews were supplemented by discussions with educationists those making key contributions in the policy development. The study even explored some of the ongoing practices addressing poor urban education in the Kathmandu Valley. The Nepal interim constitution claimed the education up to secondary level assumed be citizenry right. But the policy, legislations and practices were not compatible to the constitutional motto. That demanded an extensive review of all educational policy and practices of the country. The 1980s and 1990s saw an emphasis on Education for All. In fulfilling its mission of universal primary education, Nepal undertook the following important measures: free primary education, free textbook distribution, scholarship programs, requirement of one female teacher, continuous assessment system, removal of gender disparity, decentralized planning and piloting of free primary education to make it compulsory (CERID, 2004, p.1.). The goal for universal primary education/basic education is to ensure that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances, and those belonging to disadvantaged castes and ethnic minority groups, would have universal access to and participation in a completely free and compulsory primary/basic education of good quality. The term 'all children' signifies all children within 5-9 years for primary and 5 to 12 years for basic education irrespective of their gender, caste, ethnicity or any other circumstances. The first strategy has to be brought school closer to the habitat, ensuring that a school is within easy walking distance for every child, not more than 30 minutes. Another significant strategy relates to removing economic barriers; schools are free. No regular fees are charged for registration, tuition, or school operation, and textbooks are provided free of cost. Incentives for children such as school meals, dress and free textbooks to school children need to be continued. Similarly, functional literacy and income-generating activities for parents need to be made accessible for target groups. Education Policies and Practice………… Acharya 44 Effective implementation of policy provisions such as primary education in mother tongue is still far from being realized, its implementation needs to be emphasized with appropriate provisions. Similarly, appropriate provisions still need to be developed to ensure education for children with disabilities (MoE, 2015, pp. 62-64). The Constitution of Nepal 1990, which was formulated after the political movement completed attaining democratic rights had ensured the education right to the citizen. The constitution of 1990 had not clearly granted as education right to the people. The Constitution of Nepal (2015) has granted that every citizen shall have the right to access to basic education and every citizen shall have the right to compulsory and free basic education, and free education up to the secondary level. It signifies that basic education has been provisioned as the fundamental right of every citizen. Thus, the education policies are guidelines, and course of action of government or other institutions designed to assist, and influence consistent and transparent decision making. Influenced by national and international arrangements of culture,